Netanyahu urges US Jews to fight Iran deal or risk nuke threat on NY, LA

Former PM lambastes nascent deal being negotiated in Vienna, claiming it only delays Iran by a few years while giving regime’s nukes a ‘kosher seal of approval’

Carrie Keller-Lynn is a former political and legal correspondent for The Times of Israel

Opposition leader and former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to a Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations mission at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on February 22, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Opposition leader and former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to a Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations mission at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on February 22, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu accused American leaders of not doing enough to confront the Iranian nuclear threat with their full power, as negotiations progress on a potential renewal of a nuclear deal Netanyahu claimed will ultimately whitewash Iranian efforts to create a bomb.

“You’re postponing [nuclear capabilities] for a few years and giving it a kosher seal of international approval for Iran to develop nuclear weapons,” Netanyahu told representatives from the Conference of Presidents of Major Jewish Organizations, whose ongoing mission visited the Knesset on Tuesday.

“The prospect of marriage between nuclear weapons and militant Islam is the greatest danger the world faces. It’s the greatest danger we [as Israelis] face.”

Saying that inaction on the issue will enable Iranian arms to reach the United States’ doorstep, Netanyahu rhetorically challenged the assembled American Jewish leaders on the consequences of becoming fatigued over the issue.

“Do you want a world in which a militant Islamist state and ayatollahs have nuclear weapons with the ability to reach New York and Los Angeles,” he asked.

With his signature conversational charm, Netanyahu railed against the possible return to 2015’s Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, which is now being discussed in Vienna, and which Western officials indicate may be finalized in the coming days. The US obviated the deal’s previous incarnation when then-US president Trump backed out of the JCPOA in 2018.

Netanyahu said he opposes both nuclear deals because they do not, in his opinion, go far enough to prevent Iran from developing nuclear capabilities.

“The fact that a deal cannot go anywhere without crippling sanctions and the credible military threat is something I said over and over again to then-president Obama,” Netanyahu said. “Unless you have this combination… you cannot stop these rogue regimes by agreements.”

Opposition leader and former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) speaks to William Daroff, CEO of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, at the Knesset in Jerusalem, on February 22, 2022. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)(Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Netanyahu, who was among the most vocal opponents of the 2015 JCPOA — which he argued only delayed Iran’s nuclear development timeline, rather than forestalling it completely — warned that a new deal may be even worse, as it injects Iran with cash at a time when it’s even closer to developing a weapon.

“The deal is a highway paved in gold, because [Iran is] getting hundreds of millions released in exchange,” said Netanyahu, without citing a source for details on the deal’s terms.

“[The deal] doesn’t even kick the can down the road. It lightly nudges the can [for a short while]. That’s it. That’s all this deal does.”

Netanyahu cautioned the American Jewish leaders assembled that a nuclear Iran would quickly turn into a nuclear region, with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates expected to develop bombs in Iran’s wake.

“This deal that they’re now coming back to means the Middle East will go nuclear,” said Netanyahu. “At least three other countries will go nuclear. It will be a nuclear tinder box.”

“It’s a horrible deal and we should oppose it with every fiber of our being,” he added.

Netanyahu’s remarks to the Conference of President echoed Netanyahu’s remarks to the Conference of President echoed warnings he delivered yesterday to a US congressional visit to the Knesset.”>warnings he delivered on Monday to a US congressional visit to the Knesset.

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